Lathe chucks are typically used for securing aluminum wheels or other substantially round workpieces in a machine for turning operations. A prior art lathe chuck is illustrated in FIGS. 1-3.
The prior art lathe chuck assembly 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 comprises a riser adapter 12, a face plate 14, a locator ring bearing 16, a yolk plate 18, and a cam arm 20. The cam arm 20 is pivotally connected to the yolk plate 18 by a pivot pin 22 and bearing 24. A cam pin 26 is mounted to the face plate 14, and rides in a cam slot 28 formed in the cam arm 20 such that the cam arm 20 is pivoted inward for securing an aluminum wheel to the lathe chuck assembly 10 as the face plate 14 moves away from the yolk plate 18. As shown in FIG. 2, the face plate 14 includes three cam arm slots 30, 32, 34 for mounting three cam arms 20 at equally spaced positions about the periphery of the face plate 14. Referring to FIG. 3, it is illustrated that the face plate 14 comprises a substantially constant cross-section.
This prior art lathe chuck assembly 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 is typically useful up to speeds of approximately 2800 RPMs, and may fail at speeds thereabove.
It is desirable to provide a lathe chuck assembly which may be used at speeds of 4,000 to 5,000 RPM without risk of failure and without substantial added weight.